{"id":2192,"date":"2017-06-14T16:29:15","date_gmt":"2017-06-14T20:29:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.greatflorida.com\/blog\/?p=2192"},"modified":"2026-04-16T20:10:16","modified_gmt":"2026-04-17T00:10:16","slug":"florida-special-legislative-session-outcome","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greatflorida.com\/blog\/2017\/florida-special-legislative-session-outcome\/","title":{"rendered":"Florida Special Legislative Session Outcome"},"content":{"rendered":"

Gov. Rick Scott was not satisfied with the $82.4 billion budget passed during the year\u2019s legislative session. In hopes of overhauling part of the state\u2019s budget, he called a special three-day session.<\/p>\n

The Orlando Sentinel<\/a> reports, that with both sides bickering on the second day, it looked as if nothing would be accomplished. Accusations of a \u201cback room\u201d deal and a \u201cfake narrative,\u201d threatened success for the special session.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the end, law makers worked together and emerged victorious,\u201d says Dustyn Shroff<\/a>, Vice President of GreatFlorida Insurance<\/a>, Florida\u2019s largest independent homeowners insurance<\/a> agency.<\/p>\n

\"3690581442001_5461540549001_image-1496768673984\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Below is a summary of what passed.<\/p>\n

Public Schools<\/strong>-Public schools, PreK-12 received more money. An additional $100 was granted per student, raising funding 1.4 percent. While the increase was a step in the right direction, it is still below the national average.<\/p>\n

Higher Education<\/strong>-State colleges and universities were given additional money for construction projects.<\/p>\n

Environmental<\/strong>-$50 million will be provided to repair the Herbert Hoover Dike surrounding Lake Okeechobee to prevent runoff from the lake, causing toxic algae blooms.<\/p>\n

\u201cToxic algae blooms are what people were describing as \u201cawful smelling\u201d, \u201cblue\/green slime,\u201d that kept them from swimming in coastal waters around Martin, St. Lucie, Lee and Palm Beach counties,\u201d reminds Buck with GreatFlorida Insurance<\/a>, Florida\u2019s leading independent homeowners insurance<\/a> agency.<\/p>\n

Medical Marijuana<\/strong>-Rules were established to implement Florida\u2019s new medical marijuana program approved by voters in November. Among them, a ban on smoking marijuana and dispensaries must be 500 feet from school property. Also, additional treatment centers will set up around the state.<\/p>\n

Economic Incentives<\/strong>-Increased funding for Visit Florida<\/a>, the official Florida tourism industry marketing corporation. In addition, an $85 million job growth grant that will remain under Gov. Scott\u2019s control.<\/p>\n

GreatFlorida Insurance<\/a> offers homeowners insurance<\/a>policies from several reputable and affordable carriers. Go online for a free quote today<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Gov. Rick Scott was not satisfied with the $82.4 billion budget passed during the year\u2019s legislative session. In hopes of overhauling part of the state\u2019s budget, he called a special three-day session. The Orlando Sentinel reports, that with both sides bickering on the second day, it looked as if nothing would be accomplished. Accusations of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1219,"featured_media":2197,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-2192","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-homeowners-insurance"},"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greatflorida.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2192","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greatflorida.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greatflorida.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greatflorida.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1219"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greatflorida.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2192"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.greatflorida.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2192\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13852,"href":"https:\/\/www.greatflorida.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2192\/revisions\/13852"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greatflorida.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2197"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greatflorida.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2192"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greatflorida.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2192"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greatflorida.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2192"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}